AZ Business Magazine November/December 2012

Bring on the HEAT

The Valley of the Sun has created the perfect climate for tech startups.

Don’t believe me? What if I told you the Valley is almost as prolific as Silicon Valley for producing tech startup companies? Would you believe it? You should, because it’s a fact.

According to an analysis from SizeUp, a San Francisco–based provider of free business intelligence for small and mid-sized businesses, the Valley boasts two cities — Chandler and Mesa — among the nation’s Top 10 cities with the most tech startups per capita. Silicon Valley had three cities in the top 10.

And Chandler, home of Intel and Microchip Technologies, ranks ahead of tech darling Austin, Texas, which beat out Arizona to land Apple’s new facility along with about 3,600 jobs.

The rankings illustrate the Valley’s emergence as a hotbed for tech startups — computers, software, medical devices and electronics — and as an economic leader in technology- and research-driven industries.

And as technology drives Arizona’s economy, it also drives our coverage of Arizona business. Over the last several issues, we have been beefing up our coverage of all things tech-related. And in this issue, we take it one step further with the debut of a new section called HEAT, an acronym for healthcare, energy, aerospace and technology.

HEAT will take you inside all those issues that will drive Arizona’s economy during its second century. We’ve all known for a long time that Arizona is known for it’s heat. but soon, it will be the HEAT that defines Arizona.